At least 23 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, including a local journalist and a senior emergency official, according to local health authorities.
Separate Israeli strikes targeted Khan Younis in the south, Jabalia in the north and Nuseirat in central Gaza, leading to fresh casualties amid ongoing military operations. In Jabalia, journalist Hassan Majdi Abu Warda and several family members were killed when an airstrike hit their home. Abu Warda’s death brings the total number of Palestinian journalists killed since October 2023 to 220, according to the Gaza government’s media office.
In Nuseirat, an airstrike killed Ashraf Abu Nar, a senior figure in Gaza’s civil emergency service, along with his wife, medics reported.
The Israeli military confirmed on Sunday that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir visited troops in Khan Younis, declaring that Hamas has lost “most of its assets” and that the campaign is progressing toward dismantling the group. “This is not an endless war,” Zamir told troops, vowing that Israel will use all available means to return hostages and eliminate Hamas’s control, Reuters reported.
According to a separate statement by the Gaza media office, Israeli forces now control approximately 77% of the Gaza Strip, through a combination of ground presence, bombardment and mass evacuation orders.
Armed groups, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for ambushes and attacks against Israeli troops using explosives and anti-tank missiles in multiple locations across Gaza.
The Israeli army reported hitting 75 targets overnight on Friday, including weapons caches and rocket launchers.
Israel launched its offensive after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that killed around 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Since then, over 53,900 Palestinians have been killed, as per Gaza health officials. Aid organisations continue to report widespread hunger and malnutrition across the war-ravaged coastal enclave.